Haruka Sawamura (澤村 遥,Sawamura Haruka?) is a main character featured in the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series. She is the adoptive daughter of Kazuma Kiryu, whom she first meets and becomes close to during the events of Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami. She is featured as a supporting character in Yakuza 2/Yakuza Kiwami 2, Yakuza 3, Yakuza 4, and Yakuza 6. In Yakuza 5, she becomes an idol, and is featured as one of the main protagonists.
Between Yakuza 3 and Yakuza 4, as well as after Yakuza 6, Haruka resides in Okinawa at the Morning Glory Orphanage along with eight other children Kiryu has taken in. She acts as an elder sister figure to the rest of the kids.
Haruka's appearance changes significantly throughout the series as she ages where she is first seen as a young pre-teen girl with straight shoulder-length black hair that is held back by red barrettes on the left side with bangs swept to the right side and dark brown eyes. In subsequent games, she grows her hair out long enough to reach her chest in Yakuza 3, growing it out further and tying it back into a ponytail in Yakuza 5 onwards. In Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Haruka's hair is cut short, similar to Yumi.
Attire[]
Haruka's casual attire tends to consist of a red and white color scheme, consistent with Kazuma Kiryu's maroon and gray color scheme.
In Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami she wears a plain white hoodie and red pleated skirt with short black boots.
In Yakuza 2/Yakuza Kiwami 2, she wears a striped red and white full-sleeved shirt beneath a hooded white vest. She also wears a jean skirt and a pair of white and black sneakers, changed to tan suede short boots in Kiwami 2.
In Yakuza 3, she has settled into her new life in Okinawa and is seen in a red tank-top with a white tank-top over it, slightly worn jean shorts, and pink sandals. When in Kamurocho, she wears a white jacket with red highlights over (presumably) the same shirt from Yakuza 2/Kiwami 2, jean shorts, black knee-high socks and brown boots.
In Yakuza 4, as she is now in middle school, she wears a navy blue sailor fuku which has a short sleeved white shirt and red scarf. Depending on where she is, she wears either her pink sandals or navy blue knee-high socks with white sneakers. A variant of this uniform has a full-sleeved deep blue shirt with black shoes, which she wears later in Yakuza 4 and in Yakuza: Dead Souls.
In Yakuza 5, Haruka wears a white hoodie half-zipped over a red shirt, her upper body attire being a lighter and more casual version of Kiryu's classic gray suit. She wears a pair of laced brown leather boots and a short jean skirt with black tights underneath. During dance practice, she wears a black tank top with a white shirt over it that has four pictures on it, black trousers with yellow stripes on the side, and matching black shoes. When doing work for her agency, she wears a full-sleeved striped black and red shirt, a thin silver chain necklace with a small gemstone hanging from it, light-gray shorts with black tights underneath, and heeled brown short boots. Haruka also has a variety of Idol costumes that she wears during her performances for both the Princess League and her debut concert, with four different on-stage costumes plus three climax heat variants.
In Yakuza 6, Haruka's standard attire is almost identical to how it was in Yakuza 5, with her tights now being swapped out for white crew socks. During her hospital stay, she wears a pink hospital uniform with gray socks. When taken to the warehouse, she is given a gray full-sleeved sweater over it and teal slippers. In Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, Haruka's hairstyle remains the same. She now wears a pink cardigan, white pants, and black high-heeled pumps.
In Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, her attire consists of a light gray highneck shirt with a darker gray coat, a maroon knee-length skirt, black tights, and black high-heeled pumps.
Personality[]
My dream was to become a star. But there's something I want even more than that. I want to live a happy life with the people I hold closest. Standing on this stage, I've finally realized how important that is. That's why I can't continue singing. To me, Kazuma Kiryu is... family.
— Haruka, Yakuza 5.
Even as a young child, Haruka is a calm and level-headed girl who is often acting as a grounding force for her foster father, Kazuma Kiryu. Despite her age, Kiryu commonly leans on her for support with the other children at the orphanage. She is incredibly self-reliant and mature, seeking out work in order to help support her adoptive family, running errands on her own, cooking meals, and picking up the slack where Kiryu falls short, but still relying on him for certain matters. Her maturity extends to aspects of the nightlife, such as teasing Kiryu and Makoto Date by pretending to not know what a "soapland" is.
She is very polite in conversation, though Haruka can be shy, and doesn't always get on well with children her own age due to her maturity. Her closest relationships tend to be with older paternal figures such as Kiryu and Shun Akiyama, though she latches onto maternal figures such as Mirei Park and Kaoru Sayama just as easily. She further expresses her inability to easily make friends her own age when she moves to Sotenbori in Yakuza 5, though it is also in part due to her growing fame.
Haruka is normally quite selfless - one of many ways she takes after Kiryu - though she does display her more selfish, bratty side several times, typically when Kiryu leaves her behind. She sometimes makes reckless decisions when it comes to family, such as running away from Sunflower Orphanage and going to Kamurocho to find her mother, or getting caught up in a fake credit card scheme due to believing Morning Glory was in danger of missing rent.
She is observant, quick to pick up on subtleties, and usually able to tell if people are lying, which could be a result of the trauma she has experienced throughout her life. In spite of this, her optimistic outlook on life is a huge draw for others and gains the admiration of many during her brief stint as an idol.
